Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Ixora

Ixora Javanica
Family: Rubiaceae
This Ixora flower hedge lines the road to the carpark. As I walked along it with the morning sun against me, these flowers sparkled as the sunlight caught the tiny drops of rain left there by an earlier shower. The blooms were exuberant, fresh and I felt revitalised to face another work day. I could not resist lingering to capture these precious moments of admiration for these beautiful flowers. During lunch time when I saw them again, I was dismayed to find that this same hedge that had, in the morning, presented me with so much joy, was cut and trimmed by a gardener wielding a pair of shears. The shredded leaves and florets were scattered on the road and what I saw might as well have been a concrete wall. I could not cry to see the ruined hedge that others saw as neatness and uniformity. I could not cry for nature's creation because of man's scheduled destruction. I cannot cry anymore because my tears will not be able to heal the damage caused to these flowers in less than half a day. I can only cry within my heart because I care much for beauty and creativity and heal myself in my own way even if no one else around notices that the flowers are deformed.

4 comments:

Mableinsingapore said...

Yes, that got me thinking about gardening and gardeners. Perhaps there are two types of garderners - those who plant, create and maintain beautiful gardens and those who are just pruners who do as they are instructed. To the former, gardening is an art and also science but to the latter, it would just be a job.

Mableinsingapore said...

I am thankful first and foremost for the plants, the trees and the abundant greenery and can understand, being born and bred here, that where we are, orderliness is considered next to godliness. However, we also have our fair share of wild nature in the few nature reserves though they are not exactly 100% untouched. If I have the urge to walk into a deep forest one day, I am sure I will not run out of choices. For a start, I would like to visit Taman Negara to be amidst "untamed beauty" as you put it. Meanwhile, I truly, truly am happy to see so much greenery everyday. Like you, I do get upset sometimes when the pruning becomes obsessive and I am deprived of the opportunity to take in more of the natural beauty such as the brilliant shades of red of the Ixora hedge that my heart bled for. To me, life is about balance and compromise. We can't win all the time but there are ways to enjoy our lives despite things not being up to our expectations all the time. Cheers!

Mableinsingapore said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Mableinsingapore said...

Thanks! Will take a look. Cheers!